The Dove and the Peacock
by SarahBeth24
Summary: He was created to be a weapon, of destruction or of protection. He was born for one use and one use only. Then Fate stepped in and gifted Ruri'iro Kujaku with a moment of reprieve, of sensuality and of desire. He was going to take her life, snuff it out like a flame, but saved her. They had one night together, one night to love each other before he simply disappeared. (Lemons)


The Dove and the Peacock S Lazic

The Dove and the Peacock

~A Bleach / Ruri' iro Kujaku Fanfiction~

By Sarahbeth Lazic

(Warning: Adult / Sexual situations and Language)

Blood...

It was everywhere.

The air was thick with the scent of the irony fluid, and where the puddles of the red liquid splattered the ground and buildings, steam rose up into the cool night air. Walls surrounding the battle scene were painted with fresh life, drops skimming down the once white washed brick.

Skin...

Where bodies once lay was nothing but hacked pieces of flesh flung about, stuck against structures and upon the ground. Hunks of flesh once attached to limbs and various body parts were laying strewn about, missing the bone masses once attached to living beings.

Life...

Life was nothing anymore. All around him the last remnants of existence flittered away with every breath he took.

Standing proud and with a grin upon his lips, the Zanpakutou known as Ruri'iro Kujaku gazed upon his latest kill with a look of twisted satisfaction. It had only been a few days since Muramasa had released him and the other Zanpakutou from the torturous control of their Shinigami Masters, a few days since he and the others had stepped foot into the Seireitei to claim the life and the power they were rightfully owed. No longer would they be controlled, used and abused by the Soul Reapers whom they served, protected and died for.

No longer would they be locked away as if they were monsters, raped of their power whenever the Shinigami desired to do so. No longer would their thoughts be silenced, squashed within their internal prisons contained within the souls of their Shinigami.

Freedom was within his grasp and in the hands of every other Zanpakutou released with Muramasa's blessing. Out in the openness of the Soul Society, Ruri'iro Kujaku would never be alone again.

The deed was done and the battle was over. Ruri'iro Kujaku turned his back and with a flick of his wrist, trails of blood upon his blade was sent flying through the air to the dirtied street. He was about to take one step away when a hand clamped down about a handful of the green and blue feathers that trailed behind the Zanpakutou in a train of softness. A quivering voice, sounding as if flooded by blood and pain, gurgled out to him not to leave and that the battle was not over. Lips turned down into a scowl as the Zanpakutou turned his deep, violet eyes downwards. There, laying at his feet, was a survivor, a lowly Shinigami on the verge of death and desperately grasping onto his last bit of life.

Pathetic Shinigami. With a curl of his lips in pure disgust, Ruri'iro Kujaku guided the man to death's door with but a clean puncture of his blade through the man's back, piercing his heart.

The man was dead.

That's when he heard it, a high pitched scream of horror and terror coming from a corner of the courtyard once graced with beauty and serenity, now a scene of chaos and death. Tipping his head, with eyes narrowing, the Zanpakutou looked to the shadows to see a trembling figure clutching a nearby wall for support. A young woman with eyes so wide and filled with terror had come upon his dance of death and now gazed upon the tortured souls that had long since expired. Ruri'iro Kujaku rolled his head upon his thin shoulders, sending a trickle of blue down along a cheek as he took a step forwards, fingers tightening and quivering in anticipation for just one more kill.

How lovely were her screams, exciting him down to his core. Her cries were not calls for battle but cries of an innocent facing her death. Before his very eyes the woman turned and fled back down the small, shadowy alleyway. He could hear her steps clapping against the dirt as she rushed away.

She wouldn't get away.

Ruri'iro Kujaku never let a kill get away.

With adrenalin flooding her system, Lai ran. She ran as fast as she could away from the terror that she had come up. Never before had she seen such violence, such death up close. So much blood! She could still smell it in the air, the heaviness of minerals and the wet stench of decay.

Panic.

Which way had she come? Which way was she to go? Each turn looked the same as the last. With darkness thickening all around her, every shadow came out to suck away the last bit of light. Torches had long since died out when there was no one left to light them along the streets and the back alleyways. Never before had she witnessed such brutality in all of her life even when she had lived in the Rukongai where the lowest of the low survived. Never before had she thought murder would follow to the upper districts. But it was here, and she had looked it in the eye.

Pain.

Lai's scream of fear erupted from her throat as her body collided with something solid. A gasp of air tore through her throat as a hand wrapped about that slender column of flesh, lifting her up only to slam her back to a wall. Every nerve fired in shocking pain, tearing at her mind in aching throbs. The tightness about her neck threatened to choke the very life from her causing her lungs to burn as deep gasps of air were dragged inwards past trembling lips. Feet dangled, kicking out as her body twisted in a vain attempt to dislodge herself from her attacker but only in response did those slender, powerful fingers tighten. The young woman gagged, coughing violently as she clawed and scratched with sculpted nails the arm that had her pinned. In the end, the blood she drew only tightened the grip.

Ruri'iro Kujaku cocked his head to the side as he watched her struggling against the wall. He had found her from a roof top, running in such a pathetic state of panic. He had watched her trip and found it rather amusing when she cried out in fear to each shadow she passed. Though his own game had been short, hunting her like a cat would a mouse, it was time for his game to end.

Pity the game could not last. There were Shinigami to kill and one in particular to rip apart.

So why did he find himself unable to just girl this girl and move on with his duties? Why was it that each scream that fell from her lips, each tear that slid down her cheeks sent a wave of heat through his blood that he'd never felt before? Why was it that the more she struggled the more he wanted to feel the twists and bucks of her body against him? Violate eyes narrowed harshly as he watched the way she moved, a dance of flesh and cloth. Her kimono had rips in it, a shame for it was a beautiful piece of work with soft colors of peach and cream swirling here and there in the long fabric. Her flesh seemed to glow within the darkness, alabaster and pearl shine mixed together. Delicate where her features even when skewed in utter fear, and with her eyes closed he couldn't tell what color he would see but noticed the trail of salty wetness that skimmed from dark lashes down flushed cheeks.

Tears.

He reached forwards and she twisted back, whimpering and ever so softly begging him to release her.

He touched those tears to trail a soft fingertip down one cheek to gather the moisture collected upon her skin. Beneath his touch, she gasped and shuddered.

"Please let me go. I won't tell anyone about this. I'm begging of you. Let me go!"

Blinking his eyes and tipping his head, Ruri'iro Kujaku shifted his vision down to his damp fingertips, blatantly ignoring her pleading. Tears? Why would she be crying? Oh yes, she probably thinks he is going to kill her like he did the others. Well, the girl was right. With eyes narrowing and a slow crawling grin spreading his lips, he lifted his gaze back to her. "Tell me your name," he commanded in his deep voice laced with an exotic touch that set a purr to the tone.

When she didn't reply, he tightened his grip causing her to gasp and choke. "I said, tell me your name. If you don't, I'll do to you what I did to the others. Even if you are not Shinigami, you all deserve to die."

"Lai..." came her quiet response, quivering and whimpering. She tightened her grip about his wrist in some little hope of drawing the tension from her throat. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"Lai,' the Zanpakutou repeated softly then nodded releasing pressure against her throat in a reward, 'a beautiful name. Tell me, why do you cry?"

"You're one of those creatures attacking the Seireitei. You're going to kill me."

Amusement flittered his handsome features drawing brows to arch and a chuckle from his lips. "Am I?" he asked, leaning forwards to whisper in her ear. "Do you want to die?"

Lai gasped, not just because of those words whispered heatedly along her shivering flesh but to the power that lay behind the question. "I don't want to die. Not like the others."

"Not like the others?" Tipping his head, Ruri'iro Kujaku drew back slightly, his eyes locking to her features. "You mean like those Shinigami dogs I left butchered in the street. Now, why would I kill you like I killed them? You're not a Shinigami. You have done no wrong towards me. All the same though,' he said with a shrug, 'you will have to die. That is the order of Muramasa. Anyone who gets in our way must die."

More tears, more cries and more twists came from the woman as she felt a surge of panic and fear fuel her heart. Desperately, she began to claw at him, kick and fight against his hold even though there was little use to freeing herself. "I have done nothing," she begged past her shedding tears. "Please let me go. I beg of you."

A frown touched his lips. Deep within his heart a prickle if dislike touched him. Dislike for seeing a beauty such as this cry. It was her tears that brought a wave of unease to wash over him and to let her live. But that urge was short lived. The frown vanished as his lips coiled in to that handsome, exotic grin once again.

"I've never had a beauty such as yourself beg me for anything," he said as he reached his hand up to thread fingers through her tightly held hair of reddish brown till he took hold of the tether, ripped it free and letting spill long waves of thickly spun silk that blended in colorations of reds and browns.

Beautiful.

Could he find a woman beautiful? He was a Zanpakutou after all, the manifested spirit of his Master's weapon. Could a weapon who was to have no physical form find something desirable besides destruction? What an odd question. What an odd thought it was as he stared at the young woman cowering within his grip.

More and more tears trickled down her cheeks, skimming over her quivering lips and down her chin to plink and slide down his hand. Ruri'iro Kujaku touched a finger beneath her chin guiding her features up to him, yet she only clamped her eyes shut as if expecting him to strike her. He may be a cold hearted killer, at this moment serving the will of Muramasa, but he did have some honor to him - somewhere.

He had to kill her...

...didn't he?

"Look at me," he heard himself say to her in a tone of voice that was softer than before. "Open your eyes."

Too afraid not to obey, Lai let her eyes draw open. Past her tears, she looked upon a man, no, a creature she could only claim came from her dreams or her nightmares. Smokey blue orbs, swirled with grey, grew wide as she looked upon a handsome face, young and perfect, with eyes of violet and hair as blue as an ocean coming down from wrapped bandages to frame his face. Unable to take her eyes from his, Lai found herself locked in a vision of false reality.

'What are you?" she asked through her quivering voice.

Ruri'iro Kujaku ignored her question as he found himself captivated by a pair of smoky blue eyes, thick swirls of grey over a layer of baby blue. When matched to the few tendrils of reddish brown that tickled her temples, the blue coloration glowed. He touched her cheek causing her to flinch away in a reaction built of pure fear.

How sad. He would have to kill her in the end.

Ruri'iro Kujaku watched as his fingers strayed along her cheek to stroke and caress her jaw then down her throat. He could feel within that throbbing vein at the side of her neck the rush of life that raced through her. Her pulse pounded violently, signaling the intense fear that she was feeling. She should be afraid - so very afraid. He brushed back her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear before trailing the outer edge with a nail. Eyes moved upon hearing her draw in a sharp gulp of air.

Smirking, he leaned to her till their physical forms touched. He pressed to her, savoring the moment when she jerked and twisted in an instinctual need to get away. No prey ever escaped him. She had no chance to run. To answer her question, he found a slender ear and whispered so close that his lips ghosted over the sensitive flesh in a reply so deep that he shivered himself. "A nightmare,' he purred softly, closing his eyes as he breathed in the combined scent of peony flowers and terror, 'I am the Zanpakutou Ruri'iro Kujaku."

Lai's eyes grew wide. She screamed out as the horror of her situation slammed her dead. The shock sent a wave of ice through her blood so cold that her heart swelled with petrifying fear. He was a Zanpakutou! He was a nightmare!

Ruri'iro Kujaku leaned back as the girl's body went suddenly limp. Looking down, he saw her features had gone slack and her eyes had closed. She'd fainted. Sighing, the Zanpakutou eased his grip from her throat only to catch her in his embrace before she hit the ground. Something as beautiful as her shouldn't be sullied by dirt or grime.

"Now what am I to do with you?" he asked her knowing she couldn't reply.

The game was over now. The excitement of terrorizing her was gone. There was no enjoyment to him when his prey had passed out. Without her screams, her cries and her tears to fuel his drive to play, Ruri'iro felt himself growing bored.

Kill her.

That was his directive. Kill any whom he came across. But he couldn't do that.

As gently as he could, he laid her down upon some bags of rice piled at the back of a closed shop. There he would leave her, untouched and unharmed, to sleep the nightmare away. No doubt when a squad came upon the horror in the street they would find her and take care of her. There was truth to the fact that he was a weapon designed for nothing more than slaughter, but Ruri'iro Kujaku was far from being an animal or a monster. For one moment he looked down to the young woman named Lai. He touched back her hair and wiped away her tears with a brush of his fingers. She was too beautiful to cry like that. He almost felt quilt in causing her tears and her fear. Then again, this was all just a game.

Wasn't it?

She never expected to see him again.

He was a bad dream. Wasn't he?

He was just a horrid nightmare among a dream of blood and screams. Wasn't he?

So what was he doing standing right in front of her, looking at her with those beautiful eyes of deep violate she remembered. Lai could feel her heart pounding within her chest, raging and thrashing around as her lungs grew tighter and tighter. A hand came towards her, brushing fingers along her neck where she still had sensations of his grip days later.

As hours went by after she awoke and had been taken home, news had spread to the outer districts around the Seireitei that rogue Zanpakutou had materialized, revolted against their Shinigami Masters and were on a rampage throughout the Soul Society, bent upon destroying everything. The destruction was evident as any hour of the day or of the night explosions could be heard and felt followed by plumes of black smoke curling up from the raging fires.

At first she thought it had all been a dream, but then she woke to a true nightmare. Her husband had been furious with her, beyond furious, demanding to know what she had been doing out so late. He had howled and threatened to beat her if she didn't tell him the truth as to why she slept an entire night out in some back alleyway. In his mind there was only one reason as to her delay, even though Lai told him through tears that nothing ever happened the way he so claimed it did. When she told him of the dream, he laughed at her and called her crazy. There was no such thing as a man with feathers on his head and body. There was no such man who could kill an entire squad of Shinigami all on his own. When she persisted, Lai was beaten for disrespecting her wealthy husband.

Night had fallen, and her husband had sent Lai out to fetch some more sake at a shop down the road. Most in the upper districts of the Rukongai thought that the battles and death would never reach them. The people of the districts enjoyed living in a fragmented illusion that their wealth brought some sort of imaginary protection and safety. She knew better.

Reality was a bitch to ignore when standing face to face. And her reality had just found her.

Ruri'iro hadn't counted on finding her again. He had just been on a walk through the upper districts to view the beauty that came with wealth. He wasn't for killing all the time like some other Zanpakutou. With the summer night so sweet and cool, he couldn't help but wander around. Yes, often even Zanpakutou got that urge to wander.

He hadn't expected to run in to anyone. In fact he had hoped not to run in to anyone. Feeling exhausted from earlier battles and a tad bit sore with a nasty bruise on his left shoulder that was refusing to heal quickly, Ruri'iro Kujaku found himself headed down a market street where colorfully lit lanterns swayed within the sweet breeze from overhangs. He was feeling rather bored when he turned down a vacant street to see a lone figure walking out of a sake shop.

It was her! Lai.

The two stopped in their tracks, their eyes locking in surprise. Lai's body tensed. She took a step back then another as terror gripped her.

Silence.

Ruri'iro let his lips tuck in to a sly smile. "Well, well,' he purred softly, setting hands to his hips; his eyes skimmed her form from head to toe, 'look what we have here."

Lips parted, quivering little gasps of air as Lai's eyes froze upon the lone figure standing before her. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be him. But it was. Half his body was bare and exposed with taut, sleek muscles, and his arms and waist were downed in long, flowing feathers that resembled those blue and green decorations of a peacock bird. He was tall, with tight legs covered in drawn fabric ending in what looked to be knee high boots of gold that matched the unique belt that rounded about his hips. All that made up his physique gave him away as being nothing more than a Zanpakutou.

"This is a dream," she whispered softly, crossing her arms and hugging the bottle of sake to her chest. Lai backed up a few more steps.

Ruri'iro cocked his head to the side sending a long, thick braid of deep blue over one shoulder. "A dream? Oh, you mean me, don't you?" Chuckling, the Zanpakutou opened his arms out wide to show the flowing feathers draping from his forearms. "You would think I'm a dream, wouldn't you? Considering that there's no other man in the Soul Society that looks like I do." A cocky grin touched his lips and he flipped back a bang of blue that caressed his cheek. "Don't be so surprised. There are others here who are nothing like me, Lai."

Smoky blue orbs went wide as a horrified shadow crossed her features. "You're just a dream, just a dream."

"Just a dream." Sighing, the Zanpakutou shook his head. "No, my Dove." He looked up to her, his expression darkening as his body fizzled out of existence. With a flash-step he reappeared right before her, reaching out to touch her cheek before she could scream out. "I am no dream."

The scream came, sharp and ear splitting and dancing from wall to wall. Lai slapped his hand away and the bottle of sake fell, shattering upon the ground to spill its contents. Before she could turn to run, her body was grasped and pinned against a nearby wall. However, this time it was not a hand about her throat that held her to the wall but a hard and hot body. Lai gasped, her eyes going wide to focus upon the being who held her there. He was so close she could feel the power and the heat radiating from him.

"Please don't kill me."

"Don't kill you?" Ruri'iro Kujaku repeated her question softly as he gazed upon her terrified features. Her eyes tightened shut and her lips quivered with every little breath she took. If he didn't know better, a tear brewed beneath the caress of closed lashes.

"That was a game, my little Dove,' he told her with amusement tainting his voice, 'a simple game for one moment of pleasure." Leaning to her, he closed his eyes while trailing his nose up along her neck. "You smell so sweet, delectable. I couldn't kill one as beautiful as you even if ordered to. The world would be less lovely without you."

Lai whimpered, tipping her head up to the caress along her neck. "Then release me."

Burying his features into her hair, he drew in a deep lungful of her scent, that subtle scent of peony, sweet and delicate. Yet a deep growl of agitation bubbled up within his throat upon finding her hair bound tight once more. So he tore away the tether and swept a hand through her hair to spread the long strands in a silk curtain about her features.

"Much better," Ruri'iro Kujaku purred, feeling the cascade of those reddish brown locks tumble down about his skin. "You shouldn't bind your hair like that. Your hair's so soft, like silk."

Lai's body shivered. The way he nuzzled her hair was almost foreign to her, yet the move teased a caress of warmth right to her belly to twist a gentle knot within. Tightened eyes drew open the moment his lips brushed against her neck, and the flicker of his tongue against her ear brought forth an uncontrollable, throaty gasp. What was he doing? He couldn't do that to her! Every warning signal in her mind was going off, yet her body ignored it. With her blood raging, she could hear only the pounding of her pulse and the deep, resonating words from this pure, hard male.

Through the thin fabrics of her summer kimono, Lai could feel the heat burning off his bare shoulders and chest. Past the little parting of her collar she felt a touch of his naked skin caress against her as he delved his lips to her neck. He bit and teased her flesh before dragging his tongue slowly along the tight tendon hidden beneath smooth skin. A tremble, or was that a shudder ripping through her body bringing with it a sound she had not heard in ages, a moan? It was a moan, soft and gentle as it was, it was a moan that tumbled from her lips.

Ruri'iro Kujaku liked that sound. It wasn't a sound of screaming pain or the begging of mercy. It was a subtle sound of pleasure he had longed to hear. Zanpakutou were not ignorant to the world their Masters lived in. They knew what happened within the lives of Soul Reapers, the pleasures and the pains. They knew all of it. Ruri'iro Kujaku was no fool when it came to the succulent offerings a female could provide. He may be a Zanpakutou, but in his manifested form he was pure male. There was a part of him, deep down within his soul that craved the comforts of a supple warm body, of soft flesh and of delicate touches.

Lai intoxicated him. She filled his every sense with wants, the want to touch, the want to smell, the want to feel and the want to hear. He wanted to consume her. He wanted to devour her in every way possible. All he wanted was her, this woman and this beautiful female he now held pressed to a wall. The more he could feel her the more he wanted to touch her. Taking her wrists to one hand, he raised and pinned her arms above her head just so his other fingers, skilled and devious, could trail down over the arched curves her body. He felt her curves, touched her hips and scraped his nails along a thigh till he heard her suck in a breath and whimper oh so sweetly. Teeth nipped to her jaw, trailing delicate kisses against her skin till his mouth hovered over her own.

Their eyes locked.

He saw within those smoky blue orbs of hers a haze that he knew was one of desire. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and her lips parted, anticipating a sensual connection. And when he slowly rocked his hips to hers, pushing the coldness of metal against stomach, Ruri'iro was rewarded with a full body tremble. The moment her lips parted in yet another deep gasp, he took her mouth in a burning and intense kiss.

Deep from her throat came a groan of pleasure, and from him a growl of delight. Her lips were soft and supple, sweet and succulent and tasting of rosewater. Her flavor and her scent swarmed within him, embracing him with tight heat that made his body grow hard. Deep orbs of violet closed as he deepened the kiss with a trail of his tongue along the part of her mouth. On demand to his wants, Lai parted her lips and at that moment his tongue swept inside.

Never before had he kissed any one, never even dreamed to kiss like this.

His head swam in all different directions, and he moaned now that she was returning the hot caress. Their lips played a wicked game of delicate touches then intense presses. Just to hear her little noises of delight, he nipped at her lips before drawing the lower petal past his lips so he could suckle against the succulent flesh.

Finally, she softened against him. Finally, she moved against him. And finally, she moaned for him.

Tearing his mouth from hers, Ruri'iro Kujaku blazed a trail of heat down her chin to her throat where he lavished her jugular with the scrapping of his teeth. Needing to feel more of her, he slid a knee between her legs, parting her thighs as he pushed his own leg up against her core. Lai trembled as a sharp but muffled cry tore from her lips. Her reaction sent a shock wave of pleasure through the Zanpakutou's body that he did it again, grounding his thigh between her legs past the parting of her kimono just to have more and more of those sensual sounds tumble from her lips.

Lai's entire body shuddered. Heat exploded from within her, twisting and lapping at her insides till she was nothing but putty within his bare, strong arms. The moment when her knees went week and her body threatened to tumble she found herself gathered up against his hard form, cradled and pushed against the wall behind her even more. One of his hands trailed fingers down her side causing her to shiver, down over a hip to curl against a clothed thigh. She was helpless to fight him as he hiked her leg about his hip. In fact, muscles tightened causing that slender silk clad limb to clasp him.

Ruri'iro Kujaku growled deep from his throat as she did so. He'd never felt something so lovely before. The way her body trembled against him, shaking like a leaf, and the way her leg coiled on its own, seek out more of his body, had his ears bathed in beautiful music of whimpers and moans. Those lips, those soft, supple and sweet lips tasting of delicate honey drove him mad! Tearing his mouth from hers, the Zanpakutou skimmed his lips down along the arch of her throat, nipping playfully at her jugular before kissing any part of exposed sweet flesh that drifted from beneath the protection of her kimono.

Ruri'iro felt alive. Every fiber of his being was on fire, every nerve was clawing at him and every synapse in his brain fired simply because of this woman. Dipping his head, he nuzzled fabric away from a slender shoulder so he could skim the warm tip of his moist tongue along her collar bone. The move drew a slow, sharp gasp from her lips and an arching press from her body.

Delicious.

So sweet.

The more he kissed her succulent flesh, the more whimpers fell from her. The more he touched her soft body, the more gasps fell from her. The more he teased her quivering form, the more her body tightened about him.

What was this want, this feeling snapping at him from the inside out? What was this urge Ruri'iro was, the deep rooted need to take her, to claim her and to make her his? Whatever the reason, whatever the source, he would embrace it and use it for his own pleasure.

Growling, Ruri'iro Kujaku drew back while keeping her body supported against his. Fingers trailed over her thigh to take hold of the kimono so he could slowly draw the fabric apart. What he wanted was to feel her warm flesh against his, just one little sample was all he wanted. Their eyes locked as her bare calf caressed along the dip of his spine then over the curve of his hip covered in a fall of decorative feathers. The sensation of her silken skin caressing over his feathers brought his eyes to close and a slow moan to tumble from his lips.

"What are you doing to me?"

Deep violet eyes drew open with a flutter of dark blue lashes. She had asked him a question, but his lust filled mind was having a difficult time contemplating what she had asked. Now that he looked at her, Ruri'iro could see her trembling. There was no fear in her eyes and there were no tears streaming down her cheeks, but there was a look within her gaze that sent a fire blazing through his insides.

Leaning closer, Ruri'iro Kujaku sealed his mouth to hers, swallowing the quivering groan that escaped her lips. Lai's body bucked forwards as he tightened his grip upon her wrists and as he clawed his other hand up her thigh leaving streaks of red growling against her flesh. His tongue thrust into her mouth, sweeping and licking and playing against hers, and when he felt her body went lax against his, he took hold of the obi tethered loosely about her waist and in one yank pulled it apart.

Lai froze. That one motion brought the kiss to end as she twisted within his hold. "No! Stop it!" she screamed out only to find his mouth upon hers once more.

Those beautiful orbs of hers went wide, blinking a few times till the kiss drank away whatever panic swirled deep inside her mind. His touch felt wonderful where his fingers came to stroke along her slender stomach, up under the fabric that still clutched her. He touched her everywhere his hand could reach, teasing her side, her hip, her stomach, her thigh and one plush heart-shaped rear. He coiled his fingers, jerking her roughly against him in some motion of animalistic want.

Whimpering, Lai curled her fingers into her palms till nails bit into the soft flesh. Her eyes rolled back as a gasp tore past her lips and into that kiss the moment he ground himself against her. What was happening to her? Lai had never felt so strange before. She'd never craved anyone this way, not even her husband. But here she was, pinned to a wall by a being she thought impossible and feeling as if her body was about to explode with need. And still he wouldn't stop touching her, he wouldn't stop grinding against her and he wouldn't stop kissing her.

Why wasn't she stopping him? Why wasn't she fighting against him? Why was she wanting him?

Her moans turned to whimpers.

Her cries turned to begs.

Her body tightened, thrusting back to him as she tore her wrist from his grip with such force that the Zanpakutou had to let her go.

Ruri'iro Kujaku growled the moment her fingers dug into the bandage wrapped about his head. Her nails scraped against the exposed flesh at the back of his neck as she turned her lips to his, hungrily and desperately. Her teeth nipped and played with his lower lip, tugging the soft flesh till she licked the bruised flesh.

Incredible. The timid little thing that had once been crying in fear was now clawing at him and twisting against him with wonton need. Without realizing it, his fingers were moving between their bodies, fumbling for the latch of his belt that circled his hips, and with a clink it hit the ground - forgotten.

Lai moved. Her instinctual wants taking over as she wrapped her legs about his trim waist, the move parting her kimono to allow their hot flesh to touch. By the Gods, he felt amazing, all taut muscle and power beneath smooth flesh and feathers.

Ruri'iro touched her and groaned when he felt her moist heat against his fingers as they dipped between her parted thighs. Her body shuddered as he caressed silken, moist folds for the first time, causing her lips to fall away to release a deep moan of pleasure as he teased her. It was nature that guided his movements as his fingers slid away from her quivering heat to fumble with the laces of his black pants beneath the skirt of beautiful feathers. Nature told him what they both wanted and how to obtain the building desire surging through both their bodies.

Throbbing flesh drove forwards, in one motion piercing her body and drawing forth an erotic cry of rapture from Lai's parted mouth.

Ruri'iro growled hotly against her neck as he sank himself to his hilt within her quivering body. Her arms and her slender legs wrapped about him holding him, embracing him against her as she breathed heavily, whimpering to his ear. The Zanpakutou lost all thought, thinking only himself and the electrifying sensations scorching his insides and the liquid heat gripping his flesh.

If a Zanpakutou could know heaven, Ruri'iro Kujaku found it.

Little kisses fluttered his jaw, trailing and teasing along his cheek as delicate hands guided his features back to hers. She kissed him so sweetly that his mind swam with unknown emotions. Muramasa demanded death and destruction, yet Lai demanded passion and pleasure. Ruri'iro wanted all of it.

Using his body to keep her supported against the wall, he began to move slowly, thrusting himself forwards and back. Each drive into her was torture to him. Muscles tightened within his body just so he wouldn't hurt her, but at the same time, he wanted to drive himself against her - harder and harder. There was nothing but raw want coursing through his mind. So he took hold of her rump, forcing her to meet his thrusts with each rocking of his hips. Their flesh touched, caressed and teased each other till one or the other moaned in pleasured delight.

...harder...

...faster...

Lai's moans turned to begging cries as her body was ravaged by the hard flesh grinding inside of her, against her.

Ruri'iro latched his mouth onto the smooth column of flesh of her neck where he would growl out his excitement the more he drove into her. There was no turning back. He had what he wanted. Curling nails to her flesh, he took command of her mouth with his lips as he gave in to his carnal desires.

Lai didn't know what happened. The last thing she remembered was her body spasming as sensations ripped through her the moment sexual pleasure exploded deep within her. She remembered blinding heat racing through her, muscles spasming then wave after wave of release boring down on her as she screamed out into the night. She'd never experienced such passionate and erotic pleasure than that moment, not even with her husband. This creature had been both brutal and gentle at the same time.

She awoke later with time having disappeared as minutes clicked on by. Sitting up, she found herself resting upon a pile of rice sacks once again. The alley was still vacant. There was not a soul around, .nor was he. Looking down at her body, she discovered that her Kimono had been straightened and her hair neatly brushed back as it had been. She touched her swollen lips and remembered the passion she had shared with the Zanpakutou. Groaning, she moved to stand upon shaky legs and found that her body was tight, aching as she moved only to weave a bit when she took her first step.

With her mind filled with luscious clouds, began her slow trek home. The fear of her husband's anger and retaliation if he discovered her quick affair never entered her mind as the remnants of sexual bliss drowned out the fear she should be feeling.

Lai didn't care.

She'd never care again.

Freedom...

For days now Ruri'iro Kujaku had been free from Muramasa's control and influence. Finally his mind could swim with natural thoughts and delights. Finally he was given the chance to live a life once held only for the Shinigami who claimed mastership over Zanpakutou. He could roam the streets, gaze at the moon, feel the air upon his flesh, toast to friends, dine on fine foods and most importantly converse with all the other Zanpakutou he had fought alongside for the past decades and now considered friends.

Yet now he found himself in another string of battles. Ravaged and rabid Zanpakutou were running lose in the Seireitei and in the World of the Living. Not only was he and the other Zanpakutou of the higher ranking Vice-Captains and Captains free from their mind control, but so were the Zanpakutou of lower level Shinigami. Some of these Shinigami had lost their lives sending their released Zanpakutou into a state of crazed lunacy.

They were out of control, and they were blood thirsty.

For days Ruri'iro and his Master along with other Shinigami and their Zanpakutou hunted these so called Sword Fiends and exterminated them.

But through the battles, through the blood baths and through the killing one thing kept popping in and out of his mind. An image of her - Lai - pinned between him and that wall haunted him every second of every day. Even after Muramasa was destroyed, Ruri'iro remembered her. He remembered the touch of her skin, the feel of her lips, the sounds of her whimpers and the liquid heat that met each thrust of his body. At night he would lie awake while listening to the sounds outside, the bugs chirping or perhaps a distant rumble of thunder from a passing storm, yet all the while he was thinking about her. If he closed his eyes and concentrated he could smell her - that delicate scent of peony flowers.

So soft...

So sweet...

So hot...

So...

Eventually, the memories overwhelmed him and consumed him, threatening his control. The memories of her and their moment together were too much.

Did she even remember him? Would she ever think about him? Would she ever want him as much as he did her when alone with his thoughts alone? No. She probably had someone she loved and who could make her happy. Oh, did that thought twist his stomach. He didn't like that, not one damn bit. For one reason or another the idea of Lai having another male whom she loved curled a flame of unease within Ruri'iro, as if she should be his and no one else's. Then again, he was a Zanpakutou. His time in the Soul Society was limited to the amount of Reiatsu he had to spare before he would return back to his sword form.

But that's what she deserved. Lai should be loved, should not be alone and should have a lover or husband to provide for her and give her all that she desired. Isn't that what all women wanted? But as a Zanpakutou, he could provide none of those.

He was, after all, just a sword.

Then one day as night crested the heavens were rocked by a violent storm as Ruri'iro Kujaku lead a small group of men from the 11th Division out to capture or destroy, which ever came first, a Sword Fiend. Half way through the chase to capture the quick moving airborne Zanpakutou, Ruri'iro realized where he was. He knew the road and the markets and the alleyway that he was again found himself in. This time, however, he knew the odds were stacked against him. So with a growl slipping from his lips, he turned to the battle raging before him.

Blood splattered against his bare chest, staining his skin red. He frowned in a look of disgust as he gazed down to the wetness. He hated the color of blood. His quarry was vanquished, slain and strewn about in a few pieces upon the cold ground. In a flash, the Sword Fiend reverted back to its original state, a Zanpakutou. The broken pieces were gathered up and carried away as the squad departed for the 12th division.

Unknown to him, fate was about to play her card.

Something crashed from a distance and a scream lit up the night. The men in his group bristled with excitement thinking it was another Sword Fiend. More for the glory. However, to Ruri'iro Kujaku there was no sensation of spiritual pressure associated with one of those monsters. Another cry, a woman screaming in pain and terror, tore through the vacant alleyway. Ruri'iro ordered his men to take the broken sword back to the 12th. He would see to the screaming.

Lai's shoulder throbbed after striking the wall in an awkward angle. It wasn't the first time she'd felt stinging pain nor would it be the last. Slowly, she pushed herself up off the floor, coughing a bit from the air that had been knocked out of her. She frowned softly as a salty drop of blood trickled from a small gash in the corner of her lips.

It never got any easier, the abuse from her husband. Sitting up, pressing against the wall for support, she turned her attention to the hulking form of her husband who stood not too far from her. They were both shaking, he with rage and she with terror.

"You fucking bitch," he snarled, tightening his fingers about the hilt of a kitchen cleaver. "I should've figured you'd be a whore like your sister. Everybody told me not to keep my word to her to marry you when she died, but I did. What a fool I am, huh?"

Lai winced, hearing that term come from his rancid mouth. A decade ago her sister had died, and upon her death bed she made this man, this pathetic excuse for a man, promise her that he would watch over her little sister. He did, to an extent. He put up with her, he married her, he took care of her and he beat her. Ever since they were married, he viewed her as nothing but some whore. Lai knew he had 'issues' when it came to the intimate part of their relationship for not once did he ever touch her. Their marriage had yet to even be consummated. How ironic when he figured she was out whoring herself around because according to him, 'no woman can keep her legs crossed.' What had her sister seen in this creature from hell? Lai just didn't understand.

"Well,' her husband snapped, stalking forwards, 'what do you have to say for yourself? Huh? Speak up bitch. Let me hear you!"

Raising her chin, Lai leveled her eyes with him. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Is that so?" he inquired through a sadistic chuckle. "Well, I guess my friend was right. He did see you up against a wall with your legs about some strange guy the other night and getting fucked senseless. It's no wonder the entire district didn't hear you scream."

"No,' Lai growled, narrowing her eyes, no longer afraid of him, 'just you. I'm surprised, considering you've never made a woman scream in pleasure, only terror."

Up went the cleaver, its blade glistening in the dim light produced by the crackling embers of the warm fire. A disgusted snarl trickled past her lips as she raised her chin in defiance to the man's sharp threat. So he could kill her? She would die happy and with the sensual memories of the Zanpakutou and the passion they shared within her heart and feel content.

But Fate stepped in…

"Bloom..."

...and saved her.

"What the hell?"

Lai opened her eyes, slowly looking to her husband to see him standing with the cleaver posed ready to strike. She gasped at the sight! Her husband couldn't move. His entire body was wrapped within glowing vines and delicate buds of shimmering blues and greens. The light that glowed from the vines was so bright that Lai had to squint.

"What the fuck are you? Let me go," she heard her husband howl.

Lai shifted, peeking to the side as well only to see a memory standing there within the dim shadows of the room. Her eyes went wide, her heart stopped. It was him! "You..." she whispered in a breath so oft and subtle that it was almost inaudible.

Rage burned behind Ruri'iro handsome eyes as he stared to the brutal man, hand out and Zanpakutou raised. The scene before him boiled his blood. Lai, his Lai, was cowering upon the floor and from a man ready to slice into her with a kitchen cleaver. Brutality and ugliness, this was no man, just a coward and a bully. He would not allow Lai to be hurt. Ordering his katana to life, Ruri'iro called upon his Shikai, unafraid to show this coward, this poor excuse for a soul, how beauty can kill.

"How pathetic,' Ruri'iro purred, smirking cruelly and with a twist of his lips that held beauty and death at the same time, 'no true mam ever attacks a defenseless woman. You're shameful excuse for anything male."

"Get the hell out of my house, you freak! What the hell are you doing here? What the hell are you? Let me go, I demand it!"

"You will demand nothing," hissed the Zanpakutou as his lean fingers tightened about the hilt of his blade. He set his eyes, narrowing them, upon the man. "And I will tell you nothing.

The man's eyes went wide as the form stepped forwards, exposing more detail to its body. "You're..."

"Ruri'iro Kujaku. Zanpakutou of the 5th Seat of Squad 11." Politely, Ruri'iro gave a mocking bow, sweeping back an arm downed in feathers to the side. When he stood, his face twisted in to a look of utter rage. "Drop the blade and I may let you live."

"Fuck you, monster! I ain't doing nothing! This is my home. The Seireitei has no jurisdiction here." As if to challenge one he should know better not to, the husband flipped the hilt of the cleaver within his fingers.

Lai whimpered, licking the blood from her lips as she pressed her back to the wall.

"It's alright, Lai," Ruri'iro Kujaku spoke softly, sensing and seeing her fear and panic. "I won't let him hurt you."

"Wait a minute..." hissed the husband as he narrowed his eyes, looking between his wife and the Zanpakutou. "So it's true,' he growled, looking back to his wife, 'you lying, fucking whore! You did..." Suddenly, pain ravaged his body sending him to his knees as the vines about him tightened while glowing. The man howled out in agony as his very life began to be drained from his body

"I will not have you speaking such ugliness to Lai. You don't deserve to even look at her. You're nothing but filth that must be destroyed." Ruri'iro growled, releasing just a hint of his Shikai's ability.

For some reason Lai didn't look away. She kept her eyes focused upon the horrific and twisted look of torment and agony that washed over her husband's face. In fact, she pushed herself up to stand before him then asked the Zanpakutou softly, "Are you going to kill him?"

The husband blanched against the pain.

Ruri'iro tipped his head, looking to her and enjoying the beauty that was her newfound defiant pride and unwavering self-empowerment. "Do you want me to?" he asked quietly.

"No." She lifted her gaze to Ruri'iro and smiled timidly to him. "I don't want his blood on your hands."

"Very well." Returning her smile, he held out his other hand to her. "Come to me, my Dove."

"Don't do it Lai," her husband groaned through. "You do it and I'll kill you the moment he lets me go. I'll hunt you down! There's nowhere you can run!"

Lai didn't flinch. She wouldn't give him the delight in seeing her shiver to his threats. Not anymore. She was completely focused upon Ruri'iro, and with her attention focused upon the Zanpakutou, she stepped past her husband, lifting her chin as she moved ever so gracefully. As she walked by him, he continued to snap obscenities, curses and threats to her.

The man's bellowing rage was ignored as Lai reached out to set her hand to the warm palm of the Zanpakutou, and her smile grew when he drew her into his embrace. Their eyes met. "I never thought I would see you again," she whispered as her palms came to splay against the hard frame of his naked chest.

Grinning, the Zanpakutou leaned his head down to nuzzle a soft cheek to her silken hair. How he had longed to hold her again and bury the memories she had haunted him with from day to night. Tipping his head, he touched a kiss to her temple and whispered, "I have missed you so very much. I couldn't get you out of my mind, Lai."

Coiling to him, Lai pressed herself to him while soaking up his protective warmth. Slowly, her fingers ghosted over his chest, gingerly stroking his skin. "I don't want him to hurt me anymore,' she whispered, pressing her a cheek that were soon slick with tears against the Zanpakutou's protective form, 'I don't want to feel pain anymore."

Ruri'iro Kujaku snarled through clenched teeth as he caught the scent of her blood and her tears. His blood boiled, his muscles tightened and his thirst for vengeance burned. "Never again, will this animal harm you, my Dove."

"What're you going to do about it, you feathered freak? You're a goody two-shoe Zanpakutou of some spineless little Shinigami. You can't hurt a soul under order of the Seireitei!" The man cackled through his agony in one moment of masculine stupidity. He just didn't know when to shut the hell up for the better of his life.

"She's my wife. I can do with her as I please, and trust me, when I get my hands on her, I'll...aaaahhh!" Suddenly, his body bolted, spasming and shaking as wave after wave of his energy erupted from him.

Ruri'iro Kujaku slid his arm protectively around Lai's shoulders, holding her tightly within the shield of his draping feathers. His eyes narrowed, his lips twisting into a cruel snarl. "Correction, you arrogant, worthless bastard,' he snapped under his breath, 'I'm a Zanpakutou. I thrive on battle and the beauty of the world. I protect innocent souls like Lai's and I rip apart souls like yours." With a mental thought the buds upon the vines began to grow, glowing softly then slowly blooming. Ruri'iro ignored the horror in the man's eyes.

"Wait...I...I didn't mean it. I swear..." he began to stutter. Now that death stared at him in the face, mercy was his only chance to survive.

But mercy Ruri'iro Kujaku was not about to give.

Tenderly, gently he brushed his free hand up along the back of Lai's head, urging her to hide her eyes. Ruri'iro kissed her soft crown of silken locks while whispering softly to her, "Don't look, my Dove."

She did, just one last peek from within the security of his arms. Her gaze locked with that of her husband's and for one moment she felt pity for him. But it a fleeting moment before she remembered all the bruises, the pain, the blood and the tears she had suffered all these years. There was pleasure in seeing his fear. This time, he was afraid. Now he knew what it was like to feel utter fear and terror. Now it was his turn.

She turned away when his first cry of agony sounded.

Lai moved, slowly and gently, swaying her body in circled motions as little trickles of pleasure danced about her. Fingers curled to the damp skin beneath them drawing out a hiss from her newly found lover's lips as nails kissed his skin. Slick thighs tightened, controlling the motion of her body atop his.

His hands felt like heaven, trailing up along her naked flesh to caress the curves of her hips, the flatness of her belly then up to cup her delicately rolling breasts. Fingers so deadly could be just as tender as they caressed and molded those soft mounds within his grasp. Ruri'iro Kujaku groaned, tightening his eyes as a wave of delight coursed through him. His hips moved in precise and controlled rocking upwards to meet the seductive and sexual waltz that danced atop him.

As hell came to claim another tortured soul, they made love. The cries of agony screamed out by a dead man were soon replaced by the sweet sound of whimpers, of moans and of erotic screams.

She was so exquisite, her flesh glistening with a slight sheen of sweat as the Zanpakutou guided her in motion and in speed. Bodies tightened, desires raged and soon the two lovers found themselves thrown into the depths of pleasure and of passion. One gripping the other, one clawing the other and both kissing the other till control was lost. When the dam broke, the edge crumbling from underneath them, both Lai and Ruri'iro gave in to their desperate need for each other, tumbling together into the throes of heaven.

After, they lay together in a twist of naked and sweaty limbs and with Lai strewn out atop of him, panting and sighing in release. Ruri'iro gazed up to the ceiling of the room as he caressed lazy strokes along her quivering body. Never before had he felt such an incredible explosion of power as he had felt during the surge of his first orgasm. Lai was finally asleep, content in the aftermath of their passion and comfortable with the death of her brutal husband. Before she had succumbed to sleep, she thanked the Ruri'iro for releasing her from the captivity her soul had been locked within for so many years.

He had saved her, but why? There was no future for the two of them, no further nights spent within each other's arms or moments of erotic passion. The Zanpakutou knew they would never see each other again after this night. He would leave and return to his Shinigami, and soon, like the others, he would disappear and cease to be nothing more than the weapon he was destined to be.

With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to be comforted by Lai's presence for it was not to last.

One woman - one Zanpakutou - two souls entwined in a game of Fate.


End file.
